Machine for attaching pins to leaves



I -1,s39,35 Aug' 16 1927 H. R. scHLuErr-:R E1' Al. 3

ummm ron A'xucnma Plus 'r LEAVES' Filed sept. 21. 192s v1: sheen-sheet,.1

H. R. SCHLUETER ET AL l MACHINE FOR ATTACHING PINS TO LEAVES Filed Sept.21. 1926 3 Sheets-Shoe;1 2

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H. R. scHLuETER 1:1 AL MACHINE FOR-ATTACHING PINS T0 LEAAVES Filed sept.21. 1926 5 Sheets-Shee''.- 3

I 0 /ai'l/e 551g e i 'l Patented Aug. 16, 1927.

narran stares natuur carica.

HENRY n. scHLUnrnn AND ALrHoN'sUs H. Hamlin, on RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

MACHINE ATTACHXNG PINS TO LEAVES,

Application led September 21, 1926. Serial No.y 136,883.

This invention relates to the art of preparing leaves for use in makingwreaths and particularly to machines'whereby the leaves may be attachedto a ypin or prong auto-A matically so that these leaves may afterwardsbe assembled to forni wreaths, garlands, or other flower pieces.7

Today .in the preparation of wreaths and the like, leaves are attachedby hand to pins or prongs. Usually the stems of the leaves are wired tothe pins or prongs and then the pins may be inserted ina foundationcoinposed of moss or like material until this base or foundation iscovered with overlapping l5 leaves. This takes time and more orless yskilled labor and the general object of the present invention is 'toprovide a machine which will automatically attach to the stem of a leafor leaves an anchoring member or pin preferably in the form of an arrowwhich may be readily inserted within the moss base of the piece to beconstructed.

Another object is to provide a mechanism of this character' whereby arplurality Vof leaves in overlapping relation and each slightly offsetfrom the other may be connected by their stems to a common pin of sheetmetalv and kprovide means whereby the stems of aplurality of leaves maybe cut oif evenly to belengaged by thepin.

A further object is to provide a' machine of this character inwhichf'the leaves are 'supported in a` magazine and fed to the pinattaching mechanism andin which the pins arestruck out of a strip ofmetal by'dies and anotherV object .is to provide. a machine `in whichthe pins are formed with an arrowshaped head and two legs attlie rearlend of the shaft, these legs being bent over and 40 around the stems ofa plurality of leaves to thus attach the leaves to theV pins.l y

Uur invention is illust-rated in the accom panying drawingsv wherein -fj Figure '1 is a top plan view of'anvembodi- Ynient of our invention; ,KFig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fie'. 3-is a longitudinal vertical sectional t3 v `view of the machine;

Fig. 4f is atransverse Ysectional"view lon the line lf-1 of Figure 3;

Fig. 5 is a detailed plan view of the pin or pick forming die members; 6is a detailed sectional view showing the action of the pins or plungers62;

v'are attached to weights 22.

Fig. 7 is asview of a portion of the metal strip ont of Vwhich the pinsor picks are formed by the die members;

.Fig 8 is a view in the nature of a diagram, showing how the leavesoverlap.

Referring tov these drawingsit will be seen that we have provided asupporting frame designated generally 10 and which may be of anysuitable construction. Mounted upon one end of the frame is the maga-vzine 11 having longitudinally slotted side walls 12, the slots beingdesignated 13. Op,- erating over tlie bottom 14 of the magazine andlongitudinally thereof is a follower 15,

the front face of which is cut away at 16, this out away port-ionextending downward for a predetermined distance and then downwardf'andforward and being transversely concave.

by pins 18 which extend laterally from the follower and engage, in theslots 13. Slides 19 arevmounted upon the exterior of the side walls andengage with said pins and cords or ,Gables 20 are attached to ktheseslides and pass over pulleys 21 mounted upon the sides of the magazineand extend downward and Thus, the follower will be drawn toward thevforward end of the magazine. The leaves'A are disposed in this magazinewith their stems upward. A

lvlloun'tedupon adjustable brackets 23 on each side of the wall of themagazine is a shaft 24' carrying a kpair of V'rubber rollers 24 whichextend transversely across the front of the magazine just above thebottom thereof andthe front of -the magazine is provided with a crossbar 25 having downwardly extending resilient fingers 26. j Mounted upon:the rollers 27 disposed immediately below the rollersv 24 is 'an'endless belt 28 which, atits opposite end, is supported upon a roller29, the bearings 30 for j The follower is supported by the yrollers 17at the bottom of the follower and whichl are supported in slots 31 inthe frame 'and are longitudinally adjustable by means -of this endlessbelt approximates closely the upper Hight of the belt 28 and both beltsmove in theV saine direction.` There are a pair of upper belts k35 andapair of lower,l

ill

'platen 36.

belts 26, the belts of each pair being spaced from each other, as sho-wnin Figure l. Disposed above the space between the belts and immediatelyrearward of the rollers 24 is a This is supported by two posts 37extendingl upward loosely through transverse rods o8. @oiled compressionsprings 39 are disposed betweenthe rods 38 and the platen and uroe thisplaten downward. The platen at its forward end is widened so as to fornia triangular portion 4() which extends beneath the inner ends of therollers 24.

Disposed between the upper and lower flights of the belt 28 rearward ofthe platen is a wooden roller 4l having a width equa to the spacebetween the two lower belts 28 and disposed above this wooden roller 4lis a cutting roller 42 mounted upon a transverse shaft 43 which is cutaway at 44 at one point and provided with a knife blade 45. This shaftis supported at its ends in bearings 46 and compression springs 47 aredisposed on each side of this bearing and yieldinglj,Y support the saineand the tension of these springs may be regulated by means of the screws4S, one for each bearing. The leaves which are discharged from themagazine and carried :forward by the upper and lower belts have theirstems cut ott' by the knife 45. n Y

lispo'fed rearward of the rollers 4l and 42 and above the space betweenthe belts is the longitiidinallyv extending platen 49 supported upon theposts 50 extending through the transverse bars 5l carried by the frameof the machine, the platen being urged downward by the coiledcompression springs 52. Disposed between the two lower belts 28 andoperating in this space and beneath the platen 49 are two rotatable dies53 and 54, onebeing a male die and the ot1 i161 2l. female and operatingbetween the contacting facefs of these dies is a strip of metal B whichis mounted upon a reel or spool supported in bearings on the frame ofthe machine. The strip of metal B has a width less than the spacebetween. the pairs of belts and passes upward between guide rollers 56and between the rotatable dies 53 and 54. These dies are so formed as topunch out from the metal strip arrow-like pins o, each of these pins, asshown in Figure 7, having a trian-I gular head Zi and laterallyprojecting lugs 52 which intersect the shaft of the arrow.

rlhe leaves are fed downward from the magazine with their stems upwardand, therefore, the stems of the leaves extend rearward as the leavespass between and are carried along by the two pairs of belts 28 and 35.lnnnediately above the rotatable die 54 there is disposed a roller 57mounted upon a shaft 58 supported in vertically movable bearings 59which are urged downwarc by means of a coiled compression spring 607 thetension of which is adJustable by means of the screw 6l. It will be seenthat the pin has its head and lugs of the same width as the width of thestrip so that when the pin is cut from the strip the remainder of thestrip immediately7 around the pin will be completely detached from thebody of the strip and ill fall downward while the pin itself will becarried upward and rearward by the roller 54 and brought into contactagainst the undersides of the leaves with the lugs b2 on each side ofthe stems of the leaves. l

Mounted upon the die 54 on each side of the recess within which the pinis disposed are small plungers 62. The heads 63 of these plungers as thedie rotates engage with fixed cams 64 having inclined cani projections65 and these cam projections 65 cause the plungers 62 on each side ofthe pin to be forced inward, thus turning the lugs over upon the stems.as shown in Figure 6, thus clipping the anchor or pin to the threestems. The two or three leavesy whosestems have been attached to theanchor are now carried rearward and discharged Vonto the downwardlyextending chute 66.

lt will be understood that, as before remarked. the leaves are placed inthe magazine with their stems upward, the leaves being as far aspossible of uniform size and such as are commonly used for formingwreaths. by the rollers 24 which frictionally engage the-belt 28, andthe leavesr are drawn between the rollers 27 and rollers 24 and onto thelower belt 28 and between the two belts 28 and 35. The leaves aredisposed in overlapping relation to each other but out of exactalignment so that the leaves are odset, as shown in Figure 8, and thusit is necessary to provide means for cutting the three stems by a singlecutter so that the three stems will terminate at the same point. This isdone by the cutter 45 which is driven with the roller 4l in turn drivenby a gear wheel 67.

`Any desired means may be used for oper-- ating the severalinstrumentalities described. Thus, l have illustrated a motor operatedshaft 68 carrying a worm 69 which operates a worm whee'l 70 mounted upona vertical y This vertical shaft carries thebevshaft 7l. eled gear wheel7 2 which meshes with a beveled gear wheel 7 3 mounted upon alongitudinally extending shaft 74, The beveled gear wheel 73 drives thegear wheel through a gear wheel 75 mounted upon Athe shaft of the gearwheel 67 Mounted upi'nr the shaft 74 is gear wheel 76 which engages witha beveled gear wheel 53a moi ed upon the shaft .supporting the diei;Also mountedupon this shaft is a gear wheel 53b which engages with agear wheel 54 mounted upon the shaft carrying the die f' Engaging thegear wheel 67 is a gear whril rlibe leaves are drawn downward 77 whichmeshes Witha gear wheel 27 on the shaft supporting the rollers 27 andthis gear wheel 27 in turn engages with a 'gear wheel 2e on the shaftsupporting the rollers Q'l. T he rollers 34 are driven by means of agear Wheel Se carried by theshaft supporting the rollers 3land meshingwith the gear wheel 67. This gear wheel 67 meshes with a gear wheel 4l@onV the shaft carrying the. wood roller ell a nd the gear wheel Ll1meshes with a gear wheel 4t2* on the shaft which supports the kniferoller l/.

Prcferablya. table 78 will be disposed below the upper flight of thebelt Q8, the belt traveling over this table and preferably the magazinewill be provided with two longitudinally extendingrods 79 spaced apart asufficient distance to receive between them the stems of the leaves,thus preventing the stems from inclining tothe right 0r to thc left.rl`hese .rods'will be. removable from the top of the magazine t'o permitthe in sertion of leaves therein. Preferably the bottom ot' the magazinewill be inclined downward and centrally so as to hold the leavesproperly centered and the rounded lower face of the follower will causethe lowertips of the leaves to be turned for- Ward so that they may beeasily engaged by the rubber rollers 24 and the lea-ves carriedfornf'ard between Vthe upper flightof belt QS and the platen 36 and thenbeneath the lowei flight of the belt 35.

i-rttention is particularly'directed to the form or shape of the pin orpick used,t lt will be noticed that itris made with an arrow head. nexperienced with the ordinary pins or picks on account ofi fact thatthey have been liable to s'lip in and out of designs, whereas with ourpiel: this is impossible, as the ar'- row head holds the leaves securelyin the position in which they are placed in the Wreath or design, and itis impossible for them to accidentally come out of the design.

l claims- Y i l. En a g machine for attaching pins to leaves, a lea-fmagazine, means for with.- drawing leaves from the magazine, a knifeoperating to cut the. stems of the leaves, means thon operating topresent a pin to the leaf stem, and means then operating 'to clip thepin upon the stem. ,Y

,el machine for attaching pins to leaves g aleaf magazine, means forwitln y leavest'rom the magazine, a knife g to cut the'stems of theleaves. i: s operating to cut a pin from a strip of thm metal and formopposed lugs on the pin, and y c around the stem and discharge the leafand the ned pin.

' i c for attaching pins to leaves y a leaf magazine, means'acting to v,,thdravf Vthe leaves from the magazine in Heretofore dir'iiculty hasbeen movement of the conveyor and acting to cut means then operating tocompress the Y overlapping relation to, eachother., means acting to cutthrough aplura'lity of overlapped stems to thereby render all the stemsso out oil uniforn'i in length, and means then acting to present a pinto the "tem and clil the pin thereon and discharge the leaf with theattached pin.

4:. ln a machine for attaching pins to leaves, a magazine for theleaves, `means ach in@l to withdraw the leaves in .overlapping 7relation to each other, means then acting to cut throughthe overlappedstems of the overlapped leaves to thereby render allA the stems so cutof uniform length, means then acting to present a pin to the stems, andmeans then acting to clip the pin around 'the stems and discharge theleaves with the attached pin.

A machine for attaching pins to leaves lincluding a leaf magazine, meansacting to S withdraw a plurality of leaves from the magazine insuperposed overlapping relation to eaca other, means then acting to cutVthrough the overlapped stems of said leaves vto thereby render all ofthe stems so cut of so uniform length, means operatingto cut a pin froma strip of thin metal kand form opposed lugs on the -pin and presentsaid pin to said stems, and means then acting to bend a por,- tion ofthe pin around said stems and to discharge the leaves with the attachedpin.

G. A machine for attaching pins to leaves including in its organizationtwo coaoting rotary .dies formed to out successive pins from a strip ofmetal passing between' the dies and to form opposed lugs on each pin,means for feeding bunches of leaves having' overlapping stems towardsaid dies, .said dies acting to bring each pin into proper relation tothe stems of the bunch of leaves, means then acting to bend thev opposedlugs around the stems.

7. A machine for attaching pins to leaves including in its organizationa ,leaf magazine, a follower sliding through 'the maer f zine, means atthe upper endv of the magazine for vsupporting the'stems oft-he lea esagainst lateral movement, 'means for.k withdrawing the leaves from sailmagazine rone by one in overlapped relation, weights urgil" ing thefollower' towards the discharge end of the magazine, a conveyor for theleaves so withdrawn, a cutter disposed inthe path of lill the stems ofthe leavesfin uniform length, and means disposedA in the path of thecon-- 'rever `tor presenting 'a-Tshect metal pinV to said stems andbending a portion of the pin aroundV the stems. y Y y 8. A machine forattaching pins toY leaves l i including in its organization a leafmagazine, the bottomof which is downwardly and medially inclined, aLfollower slidingly mounted within the in "izine' and formed to curvethe tip end of a leaf forward and Us fit) downward, longitudinallyextending guides between which the stems of the leaves supported, aconveyor extending from the magazine, means for withdrawing leaves insuperposed relation from the magazine and discharging them onto theconveyor, means in the length of the conveyor for cutting off the stemsof the leaves to cause all stems to be of uniform length, and means inthe length of the conveyorl for presenting a sheet metal pin to thestems and crimping a portieri of the pin upon the stems.

9. A machine for attaching pins to leaves including a magazine in whichthe leaves are supported with their tips extending downward,and theirstems upward, an upper pair of laterally spaced conveyor belts, a lowerpair of laterally spaced conveyor belts, laterally spaced rollersdisposed at the discharge end of the magazine and engaging the forwardfaces of the leaves on each side of the middle thereof and withdrawingthe leaves from the magazine onto the lower-most conveyor, a rotary stemcutter operating between the Lipper belts, wheel disposed below thecutter and coacting therewith and operating between the lower belts, andmeans operating in the space between the upper and lower pairs of beltsacting to apply sheet metal pins to the stems of the leaves and crimpthe pins thereon.

l0. A machine for attaching pins to leaves including a leaf magazineopen at one end and adapted to support leaves with their tips downwardand their stem extending upward, a gravity actuated follower in themagazine urging the leaves forward, a pair of endless belts extendinghorizontally from in front of the magazine with their upper flightscoincident with the bottomof the magazine, the belts being laterallyspaced from each other, a pair of upper endless belts laterally spacedfrom each other and disposed above the first named belts, drivingrollers for supporting said belts, the lower flights of the second namedpair of belts operating over the upper flights of the first named pairof belts, rollers laterally spaced from each other and disposedimmediately in front of the magazine and withdrawing leaves therefromand depositing said leaves upon t-he upper flights of the first namedpair of belts, an upper and a lower roller disposed in the space betweensaid pairs of belts and betwfn which the leaves pass, one of said i ershaving a stem cutting knife, a pair ot rotatable dies contacting witheach other and disposed between the pairs of belts, a reel forsupporting a strip of metal for passage between said dies, said diesbeing formed to cut pins of sheet metal from said strip, and one of saiddies acting to carry the sheet metal pin so cut upward into positionbeneath the path of movement of the stems of the leaves and the diesbeing formed to produce a pin having laterally projecting lugs, andmeans acting to crimp said lugs over the stems of a plurality of leaves.

il. A machine for attaching pins to leaves including a leaf magazineopen at one end and adapted to support leaves with their tips downwardand their stems extending upward, a gravity actuated followerl in themagazine urging the leaves forward, a pair of endless belts extendinghorizontally from in front of vthe magazine with their upper flightscoincident with the bottom of the magazine, the belts being laterallyspaced from each other, a pair of upper endless belts laterally siacedfrom each other and disposed above the first named belts, drivingrollers for supporting said belts, the lower flights of the second namedpair of belts operating over the upper flightsof the first named pair ofbelts, rollers laterally spaced from each other and disposed immediatelyin front of 'the magazine and withdrawing leaves therefrom anddepositing said leaves upon the upper flights of the first named pairbelts, an upper and a lower roller disposed in the space between saidpair of belts and between which the leaves pass, one of said rollershaving a stem cutting knife, a pair of rotatable dies contacting witheach ether and disposed between the pairs of belts, a reel forsupporting a strip of metal for passage between said dies, said diesbeing formed to cut pins of sheet metal rfrom said strip, and one ofsaiddies acting to carry the sheet metal pin so cut upward into positionbeneath the path of movement of the stems of the leaves and the diesbeing formed to produce a pin having laterally projecting lugs,laterally disposed plungers mounted upon said last named die and adaptedwhen forced inward to crimp the lugs over the stems of a plurality ofleaves, fixed cams with which said plungers engage as the die rotates,and a roller disposed above the last named die and acting to hold thestems against the die as the lugs are crimped.

l2. ln a machine for attaching pins to the stems of leaves, a pairofrotatable dies, and means for feeding a strip of sheet metal betweensaid dies, said dies being formed to cut from the strip of metal a pinhaving an arrow-shaped head having an extreme width equal to the widthof the strip, a shaft, and a plurality of laterally projecting lugshaving an extreme width equal to the width of the strip,

13. ln machine for attaching pins to the stems of leaves, a pair ofrotatable dies, and means for feeding a strip of sheet metal bef tweensaid dies, said dies being formed to cut from the strip of metal a pinhaving an arrow-shaped head having an extreme width equal to -thewidthof the strip, a shaft, and a plurality of laterally projecting lugshaving an extreme width .equal to the width of the strip, one of saiddies having laterally projecting, spring retrac-ted plungers adaptedwhen forced inward to engage said lugs and bend them over upon the stemor stems of a leaf or leaves.

14. In a machine for attaching pins to leaves, a leatl magazine, meansfor conducting the leaves along a predetermined path, t

said means engaging the lateral margins of the leaves but not the middleportion of the leaf or stem, means for withdrawing leaves from themagazine and disposing them upon said conveyor, means for cut-ting thestems of uniform length, means for cutting pins from sheet metal andattaching the pins to the stems of the leaves, and common means fordriving` said leaf feeding means, said conveyors, leai cutting means,and the pin operating means.

In testimonywhereof we hereunto aiX 20 y our signatures.

HENRY R. scHLUETER. ALPHoNsUs H. HATKE.

